Flickering Eyelid

I agree. And it's sadder still, in that without that confrontation, we are left with pure incomprehension about the world that is forming and reforming around us. Without that reflection, we are left with confusion, random violence, sound bite news, a societal obsession with staying so busy that we don't have time to consider the mess we're making, and an ironically silent scorn for silence and contemplation. We've lost our sense of awe, our vision of the sacred and of our own value and ability, and our appreciation for ambiguity and subtlety. Our desire for progress has slowly morphed into a fear of change. And it began, I think, when we stopped thinking about "the world's" problems as our problems, when we stopped thinking about "the world's" progress as our progress.

When I think of the scientific advances we are making, I don't think about it in the abstract. I picture myself flying in the Jetson car eating a Spacely Burger! I picture myself living to the ripes old age of 768 through the medical advances I see everyday. I picture myself lounging on a beach chair enjoying the fruits of robotic labor. That's how I thought we were supposed to think of these things.